Location: West End, Tortola
Hey guys, welcome to our new boat, Shamwari! We are so excited to meet you guys and get on the water. Starting out with the skipper/medic, Annika
Annika was born outside Las Vegas but has lived all around the US. She started sailing and diving aboard S/Y Vela in the Spring of 2022 and has been hooked ever since! Annika attends school at Loyola Marymount University in Southern California, studying Psychology and Environmental Studies, and is thrilled to live closer to the ocean! She has worked with yacht clubs to outfit and maintain various boats in the past and loves nothing more than sharing her passions and excitement with others on the water. Annika is also an avid diver, especially fascinated with sea slugs and kelp forests. When not on a boat, she also enjoys rock climbing, surfing, soccer, and learning new things!
Toby- Dive Instructor
Toby first heard about ActionQuest the day he learned how to speak. About 25 years ago, both of his parents were staff members at AQ, and they always said they were the best summers of their lives. Following in their footsteps, Toby started diving when he was 12 during his first session at ActionQuest. He then returned for another two summers and knew he wanted to continue diving and eventually become a staff member. He decided to take a gap year this year and went to Bali for three months with his brother, Tyler (another AQ staff member), to do his PADI Divemaster and Instructor courses. After four years of being a student and many years of hearing his parents talk about ActionQuest, Toby is excited to be a first-year staff member and follow in his parent’s footsteps. But more exciting than following in their footsteps is the three parts of jorts he packed. Swimming jorts. BBQ jorts. Long jorts, aka pants. He can’t wait to do a jort fashion show every day.
The mate, Skyler – Skyler, grew up mainly in Vancouver, Canada, and also spent a few years in the Cayman Islands. Luckily, both are very close to the ocean, her happy place. While living in the Cayman Islands, she tried scuba diving and sailing for the first time. Eventually, she got scuba-certified in 2023 while aboard STV Vela sailing from Antigua to Fiji. Her time on Seamester was life-changing, and she can’t wait to give that experience to the students at ActionQuest. She has spent the last six months working on a boat in New Zealand but is very excited to return to cruising with the wind. She loves hiking, skiing, or finding the nearest cold lake to swim in when she’s not in or on the water.